The Underhillians mural is coming along. Here are a few images of progress on Flickr. We’ve been handed a whole bunch of new drawings from children at HTGF School, next door to the cafe. They are so wonderful, they will keep us busy for the next two weeks filling out the underworld ecosystem.

In the meantime, also check out Dirt, the Movie – a film all about the soil beneath our feet.

There have been some sightings of the creatures that lurk beneath our feet, deep in the soil beneath Telegraph Hill. Here is a sneak preview of a few of the drawings that have been provided, which will be used to create the Underhillians mural in the Hill Station.

More drawings are welcome as the display and mural will keep growing through July.

Also, more is understood about the important life that goes on in the soil, including the ‘hidden internet’ of fungi that helps plants communicate and resist disease. The Underhillians project is partly about seeing what goes on in our soil, as it is International Year of Soil. See more here.

We have an extraordinary lodger in our house, a very spiritual and very hirsute human-animal or humanimal called Bosci. He is quite ascetic and hermetic, living in a very small cupboard, studying and drawing.

He is now producing a blog to entertain himself and share his thoughts about man as animal, and the spirits of the beasts. He is named after the Bosci, a sect of ancient Christians who lived in the wilderness and grew their hair long.

It’s the International Year of Soils, so we’re thinking about what lies beneath our feet. We’re developing a project called The Underhillians.

Brian McKenzie is working with some local artists, planning a spectacular mural for the Hill Station. The mural will depict the amazing world of mysterious dwellers beneath Telegraph Hill.

We think there might be creatures a little like humans underfoot, and all kinds of animals too. There might be connecting tunnels and chambers, or places like the skate-park and schools, and different ways of living, working and having fun.

We’re calling out for imaginative ideas about what might be going on underground, the creatures there and how they live. People are invited to make drawings and notes on A5 cards, and to hand these in to the Hill Station staff before Monday 29th June. These will be used to inspire the mural and the drawings will be displayed as part of the project.

The summer solstice parade in Telegraph Hill, 2014 was a great success. It was a smaller gathering than it has been in the past, as there were about a million other competing fairs, gigs, protests and parties. But the sun shone perfectly and everyone dressed beautifully. We held a costume-making workshop in the pub in the afternoon. Garlick Man this year came in fully bulbous garb, and the Old Nag of New Cross decided to go for a white dress, even though she’d been married before (last year, and the year before that…). One nice little thing we found out is that garlic has a long link with solstice – tradition holds that you should plant it on the winter solstice and harvest it on the summer solstice. All the more fitting that Plowed Garlick Hill has remembered its forgotten tradition. More photos here

It is approaching June 21st, the Summer solstice, and time for the Garlick Man to arise from his bed on Plowed Garlick Hill (SE14), dress up and marry the Green Woman of New Cross on the top of the hill.

For three years, we’ve organised three summer and three winter solstice parades, and they have been great. It’s been wonderful to have the involvement of Grow Wild to run food workshops and serve locally grown and foraged food. We’ve also been grateful to New Cross Learning, the Hill Station and the Telegraph pub for their support. However, now need to hand over the organising. We have loved it but we’re not great local organisers, having a lot of obligations and other projects on. It’s best if someone really enthusiastic takes it on.

It’s a fairly simple job and we can tell you everything you need to know, or just do it your way. However it goes it would be nice to keep the core revived tradition of the marriage.

Contact bridgetmcknz at gmail dot com if you’d like to do it. There’s not much time…